Around the SoCon

[furmandad]

UNI in at 6-5? The two usual suspect conferences had most of their conference members get bids.

[HB88]

Only one SoCon team in playoffs. Wow!

[FurmAlum]

MV with 6 and SoCon with 1 is BS!

[gofurman]

That is bad. I think they should have taken Mercer. That said all Mercer had to do was schedule an easy FCS like Charleston southern or Campbell and they were probably in. That 10 game schedule with Point is something to learn from.

Still. I wish Mercer were in. Sorry FUBeAR.
For now I pull for ETSU! If they win one or two it will help us all. (And it’s not like ETSU is Citadel so I can actually pull for them

[mathprofhiker]

That is bad. I think they should have taken Mercer. That said all Mercer had to do was schedule an easy FCS like Charleston southern or Campbell and they were probably in. That 10 game schedule with Point is something to learn from.

Still. I wish Mercer were in. Sorry FUBeAR.
For now I pull for ETSU! If they win one or two it will help us all. (And it’s not like ETSU is Citadel so I can actually pull for them

Agreed: Mercer's schedule is what doomed them for an at-large. They only played 8 FCS games (yes, all Socon games), and their best win was at home 10-6 over Chatty, who went 6-5. They also got dominated by VMI. Even if they are as good as some of the playoff teams, it is very easy to leave a team with that resume out.

[Yadkin]

Mercer screwed themselves. Bought out their game vs. CSU for $50K and scheduled Point. Bad move by the Bears.

[The Jackal]

That is bad. I think they should have taken Mercer. That said all Mercer had to do was schedule an easy FCS like Charleston southern or Campbell and they were probably in. That 10 game schedule with Point is something to learn from.

Still. I wish Mercer were in. Sorry FUBeAR.
For now I pull for ETSU! If they win one or two it will help us all. (And it’s not like ETSU is Citadel so I can actually pull for them

Agreed: Mercer's schedule is what doomed them for an at-large. They only played 8 FCS games (yes, all Socon games), and their best win was at home 10-6 over Chatty, who went 6-5. They also got dominated by VMI. Even if they are as good as some of the playoff teams, it is very easy to leave a team with that resume out.

That's pretty much the size of it. Mercer won six D1 games and didn't have a signature win. UNI won 6 D1 games and had a signature win.

[The Jackal]

Mercer screwed themselves. Bought out their game vs. CSU for $50K and scheduled Point. Bad move by the Bears.

There was talk a few years ago about the SoCon pressuring schools to get out of the business of scheduling NAIA schools. It's embarrassing for the conference to have their #2 team sit home because they opted to schedule a glorified high school team.

[FUBeAR]

Mercer screwed themselves. Bought out their game vs. CSU for $50K and scheduled Point. Bad move by the Bears.

Prolly a bit more to this story, but you’re not wrong.

Mercer 1st screwed themselves. Then, the Playoffs Selection Committee jumped on for sloppy seconds.

And, the SoCon will sleep on these sheets going forward.

FCS Playoffs / Playoff Selection process, like the NCAA’s Constitution, needs a complete Re-Fresh.

Actually, once the P5 gets done wrecking COLLEGE Football with their (Now…Even More!) autonomy, the FCS, as we know / have known it, may no longer exist. So, Refreshing the FCS Playoff / Playoffs Selection process very well could be a fool’s errand. Whatever…just let the MVFC (11) and the BSC (13) fill all 24 spots next year. The rest of us can go do something…autonomous.

[FUBeAR]

Mercer screwed themselves. Bought out their game vs. CSU for $50K and scheduled Point. Bad move by the Bears.

There was talk a few years ago about the SoCon pressuring schools to get out of the business of scheduling NAIA schools. It's embarrassing for the conference to have their #2 team sit home because they opted to schedule a glorified high school team.

You know Furman scheduled & played Point in the last Fall season before this year, right?

[The Jackal]

Looking at some news reports, Mercer was indeed scheduled to play Charleston Southern according to CSU reports.

My guess is Mercer couldn't find a third ooc opponent (11 game schedule), and didn't want to play 6 road games on a 10 game slate (both CSU and Alabama were road contests). They would have played three straight road games to start and 4 of their first 5 would have been on the road.

Still not great to schedule yourself in a corner, but it at least offers a theory why Mercer would drop a road game for a home game they knew they could get.

[The Jackal]

Mercer screwed themselves. Bought out their game vs. CSU for $50K and scheduled Point. Bad move by the Bears.

There was talk a few years ago about the SoCon pressuring schools to get out of the business of scheduling NAIA schools. It's embarrassing for the conference to have their #2 team sit home because they opted to schedule a glorified high school team.

You know Furman scheduled & played Point in the last Fall season before this year, right?

They did. A lot of differences though.

Furman rarely ever schedules sub-D1 opponents. I think it had been 10 years or more before their last D1 contest.
It was a 12 game season. Furman had 11 D1 games.
Furman was looking for a makeup home game for the canceled Colgate contest.

Hendrix was interviewed on this. Furman wanted a 6th home game to make up for the canceled 2018 game. Point was literally the only team they could find to play them in Greenville. They could have just opted to play 11 games, but they wanted the extra home game for the home game they lost.

Furman did put a pretty heavy PR push before that game explaining the need to schedule Point.

So, yes, Furman played Point. The circumstances were quite different, though.

[FUBeAR]

Looking at some news reports, Mercer was indeed scheduled to play Charleston Southern according to CSU reports.

My guess is Mercer couldn't find a third ooc opponent (11 game schedule), and didn't want to play 6 road games on a 10 game slate (both CSU and Alabama were road contests). They would have played three straight road games to start and 4 of their first 5 would have been on the road.

Still not great to schedule yourself in a corner, but it at least offers a theory why Mercer would drop a road game for a home game they knew they could get.

It all started on the bus ride over…and when UConn agreed to pay Yale $285k (announced in 12/20) to play in 2021 …and rolled on from there with those things & the CSU situation, along with other things, all part of the mix.

Not sure why it’s so important to know all the details. Until this year’s Point game, Mercer hasn’t played a non D1 since their 1st year in the SoCon / 2nd year of playing Football - 2014.

Pretty sure they didn’t WANT the schedule they had, but they shoulda found a way to fix it. That’s what the smart peeps in the Athletic Department there & at Furman get paid to do…right?

[FUBeAR]

Mercer screwed themselves. Bought out their game vs. CSU for $50K and scheduled Point. Bad move by the Bears.

There was talk a few years ago about the SoCon pressuring schools to get out of the business of scheduling NAIA schools. It's embarrassing for the conference to have their #2 team sit home because they opted to schedule a glorified high school team.

You know Furman scheduled & played Point in the last Fall season before this year, right?

They did. A lot of differences though.

Furman rarely ever schedules sub-D1 opponents. I think it had been 10 years or more before their last D1 contest.
It was a 12 game season. Furman had 11 D1 games.
Furman was looking for a makeup home game for the canceled Colgate contest.

Hendrix was interviewed on this. Furman wanted a 6th home game to make up for the canceled 2018 game. Point was literally the only team they could find to play them in Greenville. They could have just opted to play 11 games, but they wanted the extra home game for the home game they lost.

Furman did put a pretty heavy PR push before that game explaining the need to schedule Point.

So, yes, Furman played Point. The circumstances were quite different, though.

Did that heavy PR push include the word “embarrassing” and the phrase “glorified high school Team?”

[gofurman]

Alright guys. I think we all agree:

We all wish Mercer was in the playoffs

They made some odd scheduling decision and it sucks for everyone. Even sucks for Furman as we want at least two SoCon teams in playoffs. Just no room for error with a 10 game schedule. That’s brutal. One was point and one was bama I think. That leaves 8 D1 games to win 7. We have seen this with other teams. I just think it’s better to avoid Point and go with Campbell or whomever and also schedule 11 games.

I hope Mercer makes it next year. Down with the MVC - go ETSU. Win at least one !